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With the MLB season opener on Sunday night and a full slate of games on Monday, fantasy baseball draft season is almost behind us. This is the time when fantasy owners are taking stock of their teams, trying to shore up weak areas and using the waiver wire to replace players going on the DL.

Fantasy baseball draft season is in full swing with just two weekends left before Opening Day. In everyone’s desperation to win their league titles, a great many strategies are being bandied about as the secret to success.

A lot goes into winning a fantasy baseball league. First, there is getting the most value out of each and every pick in your draft or auction. Then there is working the waiver wire diligently all season.

The fantasy baseball landscape is littered with the same three terms this time of year: sleepers, busts and breakouts. It’s all aimed at helping fantasy owners who are trying to figure out which players to target or avoid in their upcoming drafts or auctions.

Anybody can pick from the long list of stars available in the early rounds of fantasy baseball drafts. It’s in the later rounds where fantasy leagues are often won or lost. There’s a good chance anyone who drafted Corey Kluber or Jose Altuve in the middle rounds or who scored Michael Brantley or Victor Martinez in the late rounds wound up finishing “in the money” last year.

Spring training kicks into gear this week with exhibition games beginning in earnest on Tuesday, then the Dodgers open their Cactus League schedule on Wednesday and the Angels start their docket on Thursday.

The Cubs began unveiling the coup de gras of their rebuilding plan under team president Theo Epstein this past week when the first of their trio of elite prospects in Triple-A arrived in the majors with a bang.

The Angels and Dodgers might have been quiet on Thursday’s non-waiver trade deadline, but it was otherwise a barrage of deals big and little with wide-reaching impacts on pennant races in both leagues.

Now that the All-Star Game is behind us and the second half is under way, fantasy owners are looking to find who the second-half all-stars are going to be. There are the obvious stars that everybody already owns and values as such, but leagues will be won by stealthier additions.

The All-Star break is upon us, so it’s time for the fantasy baseball version of the best the first half had to offer: Catcher Jonathan Lucroy >> The Brewers’ backstop took advantage of a down year so far at his position, outdistancing the pack with a .

The Athletics’ blockbuster deal with the Cubs to acquire starting pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel shakes up the landscape of the AL West and beyond in real baseball, but also has a lot of impact in fantasy circles as well.

Jimmy Rollins passed Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for first place on the Phillies all-time hit list after quite a roller coaster ride this season. New Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg (also a Hall of Famer) called out Rollins during spring training for a perceived lackadaisical approach, which may have had the desired effect when the Phillies veteran shortstop came out of the gate blazing with a grand slam in the season opener.

Power hitters put on an amazing display in May, led by Edwin Encarnacion’s amazing 16-homer month. The Blue Jays slugger struggled in April with just two home runs and fantasy owners were concerned that the wrist surgery he underwent in September was sapping his power.

The season-long plague of injuries spread from the pitching side where Cliff Lee hit the DL with elbow soreness to the hitting side where Prince Fielder was lost for the season to neck surgery. Then Nolan Arenado became the latest to get hurt on a head-first slide, fracturing a finger sliding into second base on Friday.

The plague of pitchers having to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair torn elbow ligaments continued this past week with Marlins ace Jose Fernandez and Rangers left-hander Martin Perez the latest victims.

We are fully entrenched in the Age of the Pitcher with most fans having not seen anything like this since the early 1970s. In fact, the MLB-wide batting average of .250 through May 9 is the lowest mark since 1972 when it was it was .

With the first month behind us, fantasy owners can finally make something out of the standings and start trying to fix holes that may have developed through trades or off the waiver wire. You should at least be able to tell by now if it’s more hitting or pitching you need.

It’s an especially light schedule this week with six teams playing just five games. That will limit the number of two-start pitchers for those in weekly leagues. Owners in daily leagues will get plenty of chances to shuffle in players off your bench, so you may want to add some position players to your bench.

The cream is beginning to rise to the top, as stars like Mike Trout and Adam Wainwright had big weeks. Now many a nervous fantasy owner would like to see Miguel Cabrera and Stephen Strasburg do the same.

The Angels’ playoff hopes last season were torpedoed by dismal performances by their two top-paid hitters - Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. Pujols tried to play through plantar fasciitis and struggled to a .

If you’ve been reading my columns, it’s probably because you’re hoping to win your fantasy baseball league this year. Whether it’s for bragging rights, money or both, you’re looking for the edge that will land your team in first place by season’s end.

Add talented youngsters Jarrod Parker of the Athletics and Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks to the growing list of pitchers going down for the season to Tommy John surgery. There has been good news too, as the Mets’ Jon Niese avoided a serious elbow injury and the Mariners’ Hideki Iwakuma has begun throwing after missing the first month of spring training with a finger injury.

Spring training is a time for pitchers to build up arm strength and hitters to get their timing down. It’s a time to work on fundamentals, like pitchers covering first base. It’s a time for minor leaguers to try to make an impression on management that their time may be coming soon.

If you are one of those fantasy owners who plays in leagues with entry fees, or even if you’re just playing for pride, you are looking for any edge to can get to crush the competition. Developing a sound draft strategy is a crucial way to distinguish your team.

The injuries to upper-echelon starting pitchers have been coming fast and furious in spring training of late, from Cole Hamels to Mike Minor to Mat Latos to Kris Medlen. Some are more serious than others, but adjustments need to be made to draft lists.

Bust. It’s a bad word for fantasy owners, reserved for players who completely flop under high expectations. Scars from these busts can last a long time for owners who can’t forget the pain of a season undercut by one of these despicable developments.

The name of the game in fantasy drafts is getting the best value possible with each and every pick. Building a team from scratch allows you to take the best available player in the early rounds, then fill the holes in your starting lineup later on.

The bell has sounded. With spring training games getting underway on Wednesday, it’s time for fantasy baseball owners to shake off the winter doldrums and turn their attention to preparing for their drafts.

The expression “hope springs eternal” has never applied more than now in baseball with spring training under way and exhibition games beginning later this week. That’s because three teams from among the five lowest payrolls in 2013 made the postseason.

While the baseball world has been consumed by the Masahiro Tanaka saga nearly all offseason, Angels and Dodgers fans were holding out hope to the end that their team would land the 25-year-old Japanese ace.